Club de Madrid, P80 Foundation sign 'Little Rock Accord'

By David Harten

Posted: December 17, 2012 at 11:40 a.m.Updated: December 17, 2012 at 4:08 p.m.

David Harten
Carlos Westendorp, right, Club de Madrid Secretary General and Eugene Yun, left, Managing Director of the P-80 Foundation, sign the Little Rock Accord in front of the Old State House in downtown Little Rock.

LITTLE ROCK  Former heads-of-state from around the world are meeting in Little Rock this week for the Club de Madrid’s 2012 annual conference.

Club de Madrid announces several initiatives

Various dignitaries from around the world visited Little Rock on Monday to take part in the Club de Madrid conference. Among the announcements, the Club de Madrid and the World Economic Council announced the formation of The World Leadership Alliance and the signing of the Little Rock Accord. The Little Rock Accord will be an agreement between the P80 Foundation and the Club de Madrid to boost climate challenging finances and technology.
(By David Harten)
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The meeting of more than 40 global leaders begins today. Participants include former U.S. President Bill Clinton and a host of other luminaries.

Among the events at the meeting, the Club de Madrid announced a partnership with the P80 Foundation and the formation of the World Leadership Alliance. Wim Kok, former prime minister of The Netherlands, along with other dignitaries such as Jorge F. Quiroga, former president of Bolivia, announced the move in a Monday afternoon press conference at The Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock.

The World Leadership Alliance will be a partnership between the Club de Madrid and The World Economic Council. One of several goals of the new partnership is to boost sustainable technology use globally.

Australian businessman Clive Palmer was named the alliance's president.

As part of the partnership, P80 Foundation Managing Director Eugene Yun and Secretary General Carlos Westendorp signed the "Little Rock Accord". The document sets a formal agreement between the two sides to initialize a global task force aimed at increasing the role of public and private sector finance, with an emphasis on pension and sovereign wealth funds, in an effort to drive low-carbon, climate-resilient and sustainable growth. Additionally, the accord will address other climate-change challenges.